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NSIC FOOTBALL COACHES SEE UMD AS THE TEAM TO BEAT ... AGAIN

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Senior team captains Ben Helmer (81) and Chase Vogler (18) have their sights set on another NSIC championship celebration in 2012

The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football coaches have spoken and as far as a league's top dog for 2012 is concerned, they once again like what they see in the University of Minnesota Duluth.

In their annual preseason poll released today, the league coaches have picked the four-time defending NSIC champion Bulldogs to finish first in both the North Division and in the overall standings. The NSIC is now a 16-team circuit and, for football, is broken down into two, eight-school divisions.

UMD, which rolled up an 11-3 record in all games last fall and gained a share of the NSIC title with an 8-2 league mark, was unanimous favorites, garnering nine of a possible 15 votes (coaches could not vote for their own team) and 217 points.  St. Cloud State University, a member of the North Division, was next (211 points and six first-place votes), followed by Minnesota State University-Mankato, the reigning NSIC South Division champion (197 points and one first-place vote), Winona State University (175), Augustana College (169) and Bemidji State University (145). The Bulldogs will meet four of those five schools (with Minnesota State-Mankato being the exception) during the 2012 regular season.

The Bulldogs, who have been chosen as the NSIC preseason favorite during each of their last six years of league membership (2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2003), return some 54 lettermen from a year ago, including eight starters on offense and six on defense.

2012 NSIC Preseason Football Coaches Poll

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